Plan your trip

Summers run hot and humid, with highs near 85 degrees in the valleys and lows in the mid 60s at night. Winters are milder than the elevation suggests, with highs around 50 and lows near freezing, but the ridges catch weather the valleys do not. The high country runs several degrees cooler than the trailhead, and fog and low cloud settle into the gorges most mornings.

Rain falls heavy here. The eastern side of the range gets more than 80 inches a year, among the wettest ground in Georgia, and it is what gives the high coves their almost rainforest feel. Spring brings the wettest conditions and the highest water. Fall is the clearest and coolest, with the longest views.

Snow is more local than people expect. North-facing coves can pick up something like 4 to 18 inches a season from upslope flow, while the surrounding lowland counties see only 1 to 4 inches in a typical year. Above about 3,800 feet a hard storm can still drop a foot or more, as it did across the north Georgia mountains during the March 1993 Storm of the Century. Weather changes fast at elevation. Carry a layer even on a warm morning at the trailhead.